Clothesline prop



May 18, 1954 G. n. HOLMES CLOTHESLINE PROP Filed Sept. 7, 1951 BY 4 7%4W v 9%EYS the blows of the hammering tool, thus to prevent damage to theupper end of the post, and thereby assure long life to the clothes lineprop.

From the foregoing, it will be noted that the front plate I2 is ofT-shape and will be disposed on the post or prop E9 in an upstandingposition. The flange 24 projects laterally from the top edge of the headof the T-shaped front plate while the stem of the plate [2 carries theside members or legs it which extend perpendicularly therefrom alongeach of the side edges of the stem and in the same direction as theflange 24, the outwardly extending leg 18 carried by the free end ofeach of the side members or legs l6 constituting securing plates.

Rigidly secured to the widened upper portion of the front plate 12 is aseries of line-engaging pins, that project outwardly and forwardly fromthe front plate, and are spaced transversely of said plate. The seriesof pins includes a pair of outer pins 25, that are inclined upwardlyfrom the front plate, and medially disposed between the outer pins 26 isan inner pin 28, that is inclined downwardly from the front plate, andis disposed, at its inner end, at a plane lower than the plane of theinner ends of the outer pins (see Figures 4 and For the purpose offixedly connecting the front plate I 2 to the post It), I form the lowerportion of the front plate with a plurality of instruck lugs 30, thesepreferably being triangularly spaced to make the connection of the frontplate to the post as rigid as possible.

A back plate 32 is formed to a width somewhat greater than that of thepost it, and comprises a single flat piece of metal material coextensivein length with the front plate l2. In this connection, it may be notedthat the top edge of the back plate 32 is flush with the top surface ofthe post it. Therefore, since the top flange 24 of the front plateoverlies said top surface of the post, the top flange aifords protectionto the back plate 32, so that said back plate is not struck upon its topedge when the post I0 is hammered into the ground surface.

Formed in the back plate 32, intermediate the upper and lower endsthereof, and spaced inwardly from the side edges of said back plate areopenings 34, that register with the openings 20. Bolts 35 are extendedthrough the registering openings, and receive wing nuts 36, whereby thefront and back plates are securely clamped in position against the post.The back plate 32, in this connection, serves the purpose of rigidifyingthe connection of the front plate l2 to the post, and it is important tonote in this regard that the back plate and front plate are readilyconnected to one another and to the post without the need of specialtools or skills.

It should be noted that the back plate 32 is arranged in spacedface-to-face relation with the securing plates 1 3 and the outer edge ofthe flange 24 when the prop head is assembled on the post it, and thebolts 35 extending through apertures 20 in the securing plates 18 andthrough the openings 34 in the back plate 32 will draw the front platel2 and the back plate 32 towards each other as the wing nuts 36 arethreaded upon the end of the bolts 35 so as to clampingly engage theprop or post in with the flange 24 overlying one end of the prop, asclearly shown in Figure 4.

In use, the clothes line prop is engaged with a clothes line 38 in themanner illustrated in Figure 1. In interengaging the line with the prop,the

line is cast over the outer pins 25 and under the inner pin 28. Sincethe inner pin is offset from the plane of the outer pins, the line isdeformed longitudinally, so as to be tensionably gripped by the pins, ina manner to prevent relative slippage between the line and the prop.Further, since the outer pins are inclined upwardly, while the inner pinis inclined downwardly, any tendency toward disengagement of the clothesline prop from the line is effectively precluded.

It is believed clear that the invention is not necessarily confined tothe specific use or uses thereof described above, since it maybeutilized for any purpose to which it may be suited. Nor is theinvention to be necessarily limited to the specific constructionillustrated and described, since such construction is only intended tobe illustrative of the principles of operation and the means presentlydevised to carry out said principles, it being considered that theinvention comprehends any minor changes in construction that may bepermitted within the scope of the appended claims.

What is claimed is:

l. A head for a clothes line prop comprising an upstanding front plateof T-shape having a flange projecting laterally from the top edge of thehead of said plate, the stem of said plate having a side memberextending perpendicularly along each of its side edges and in the samedirection as said flange, a securing plate carried by the free end ofeach of said side members and extending outwardly therefrom, a backplate arranged in spaced face-to-face relation with said securing platesand with the outer edge of said flange, means extending through each ofsaid securing plates and said back plate to draw said front plate andsaid back plate towards each other to clampingly engage the prop withsaid flange overlying one end of said prop, and a series of lineengaging pins carried by the head of said front plate.

2. A head for a clothes line prop comprising an upstanding front plateof T-shape having a flange projecting laterally from the top edge of thehead of said plate, the stem of said plate having a side memberextending perpendicularly along each of its side edges and in the samedirection as said flange, a securing plate carried by the free end ofeach of said side members and extending outwardly therefrom, a backplate arranged in spaced face-to-face relation with said securing platesand with the outer edge of said flange, means extending through each ofsaid securing plates and said back plate to draw said front plate andsaid back plate towards each other to clampingly engage the prop withsaid flange overlying one end of said prop, and a series of lineengaging pins carried by the head of said front plate, said seriesincluding a pair of outer pins inclined in one direction and a centerpin disposed between said outer pins and inclined in an oppositedirection.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS NumberName Date 432,429 McClaughry July 15, 1890 704,073 Mole July 8, 19021,875,813 Kaplan et a1 Sept. 6, 1932 1,896,898 Hildebrand Feb. 7, 19332,054,551 Verone Sept. 15, 1936

